Over the past century, there have been many improvements in the development of clean energy, including a growing ability to harness hydropower, wind power, and solar power. However, power installations that make use of clean energy are typically located at a distance from the major population centers where the electricity is needed. While hydropower generally must be utilized at fixed locations (usually away from urban centers and high-population areas), there are fewer such technical restrictions limiting the use of wind and solar power installations in higher-population areas. Instead, the barriers to constructing these installations have often been political. For example, there have been protests against the installation of wind farms near homes and farms, essentially saying “not in my backyard,” forcing these power plants farther away. Because of this, the transportation required to move electric power from the generation plants to homes and businesses entails a large loss of power, typically to heat, over the course of the distance the electricity has to travel.
There is a need for generating electric power in loco, thereby eliminating much of the loss of power. However, the manner of generating such power cannot be overly intrusive; a conventional wind farm in a neighbor's backyard could be seen as undesirable by others in the neighborhood. A comprehensive solution has yet to be found. Even when relatively low-aesthetic impact home-mounted solar cells are used, their inefficiency does not allow them to fully power the building to which they are affixed year-round unless a specific set of conditions are met. In particular, the air conditioning needs in hot climates can easily require more energy than is available through a roof-mounted solar cell.